Enterprise Texas Pipeline Sneak Attack on DISH, TX

Another dispatch from Calvin Tillman, Mayor of DISH, TX, who has his own blog now.

Here in the Town of DISH we are at the crossroads of almost a dozen high pressure natural gas pipelines, as well as an equal amount of gathering lines. We are also home to 11 compressors, and 3 metering stations. One of the companies that have already put in a pipeline; Enterprise Texas Pipeline, were proposing to put yet another metering station in our community. Now with the constant attack on our personal property rights, noise, odor, gas company employees using our roads as a drag strip, as well as many health impacts that we are not currently apparent, most of citizens here have the opinion of “don’t go away mad, just go away”. It looks as though Enterprise Texas Pipeline has decided to go away, although they are likely mad. On the surface this may look like a victory here, and with what we have here, any relief is welcome.

With this apparent victory there will be a downside. Enterprise Texas will be putting their facility in, just not in the corporate limits of DISH. This eyesore will likely be moved just outside of the DISH corporate limits and be in somebody else’s backyard. You see the Town of DISH attempted to have Enterprise Texas meet minimum aesthetics standards that we are allowed to do by law. However, it appears as though they do not wish to meet these minimum standards. They will move their site a quarter of a mile, and not install noise abatement, reasonable fencing, or minimal landscaping. It will have a conglomerate of above ground piping surrounded by a cheap chain-link fence that does not hide the ugliness of the site. So in short this will devalue and ruin the property values, and quality of life of those who live just outside our corporate limits. Therefore, there will still be pain and suffering by hard working people, only it will likely be much worse that before.

I have mentioned Enterprise Texas before, if you recall they are the company who chose to hire the downtown Dallas law firm to attempt to intimidate us into rolling over, instead of trying to work with us in good faith, they ran up our legal fees and insinuated litigation. So it is not surprising that they would run, instead of really trying to be a “good neighbor”. This is not a new theory; these companies tend to migrate to areas where there is little chance of being forced to be responsible, or to an area where the neighbors can’t afford to fight them. Unfortunately, they typically get away with this tactic without any repercussions.

As previously stated, to fight these companies in a civil suit is extremely expensive. It could be as much 25,000 to 30,000 dollars up front to get a decent lawyer, with no guarantee of getting anything back. So those who can not afford to risk spending that kind of money on legal fees usually end up with this trash in their back yard, i.e. Carter Avenue in Fort Worth. If you look at the wealthy neighborhoods, they will not be forced to deal with this mess; the companies just go around. And I must point out that, the people in DISH, on Carter Avenue, all over Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York who live near these facilities are hard working, honest people, who pay their taxes, and are trying their best to achieve the American Dream. However, to achieve that dream is much more difficult if you are sacrificed by big energy, if it is your area that suffers for the “good of the shale”.

I have notified those who live just outside our corporate of the nightmare that is about to move in next door. However, it is unlikely that they will be able to do anything about. That is except for welcoming their new neighbors, and their relief valves that release at all hours of the night, and raw un-odorized natural gas that will be lingering in the area. Unfortunately, we have no say so in what goes on outside of our corporate limits and this bunch knows that. This is why there must be a standard that applies to these companies whether they are in the corporate limits of a city or not. Please share this with whom ever you like.

Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX
(940) 453-3640

“Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it”